Reinforced plastic button



SePtf 2, 1941 F. G. PURINTON 2,254,445

REINFORCED PLASTIC BUTTON Filed Oct. 17, 1940 Patented Sept. 2, 1941UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE REINFORCED PLASTIC BUTTON Forrest G.Purinton, Waterbury, Conn., assigner to The Patent Button Company,Waterbury, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application October 17,1940, Serial No. 361.647

4 Claims.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in buttons, and moreparticularly to a molded plastic button which is strongly reinforcedagainst breakage.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a molded plasticbutton which is very economical to manufacture, as, among other things,it is not necessary to provide any vise or anchor for holding ordeforming the prong of the tack fastener.

A further object of the invention is to provide a molded plastic buttonpreferably formed with metal insignia molded directly within the face ofthe button so that the insignia will be visible and, at the sametime,will be of a permanent and lasting nature.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a plastic button inwhich a metal plate is embedded, the said plate having raised letters orinsignia stamped therein, so that the plate Will be entirely hiddenwithin the plastic button head but the outer surfaces of the letterswill be visible, with the plastic material forming the background.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a well-reinforcedplastiobutton having metal insignia molded within the face of the buttonto thus provide an economical way of making permanent the insigniavisible on the face of the button.

As is well knownto those skilled in the art, molded plastic buttons andother similar articles are usually molded in multiple cavity molds, andwhere several hundred cavities are used the expense of cutting theinsignia or trade-mark in every one of the cavities would be very high.However, by employing a' stamped plate or a molded plate, as willshortly be described, it is only necessary to cut one name die, fromwhich any number of plates may be stamped for use in the multiple diecavities. Then, when it is desirable to employ a different insignia ortrademark, it is only necessary to make the one new name die, from whichthe new plates may be formed.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a plastic buttonhaving a plate with raised metal letters embedded within the button, so

that the top of the insignia or letters will bel iiush with the outerface of the button to thereby provide a pleasing appearance.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a shell forming apart of the button in which the pre-molded button head with its rolledor curled about the edge of the metal plate and plastic portion of thebutton, thus making an attractive frame for the letters or otherinsignia and providing a good edge for the button. This makes itunnecessary to grind oil the parting fm or rough edge on the buttonwhich is inherent in the molding operation.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a button having ahead and hub of Bakelite iitted within a metal shell, thus providing arm metal surrounding for the Bakelite, so that even should the hubfracture during the attaching operation, the button head will still betightly held in place and a good fastening obtained.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a plastic buttonhaving a plate with raised letters embedded within the button, whichplate, rather than being of metal, might be made of Bakelite or Plaskonof a contrasting color than the plastic forming the body of the button.The top of the insignia or letters will be flush with the outer face ofthe button, and being of a contrasting color from' the background orbody of the button will provide a pleasing novel appearance and willthus provide a contrasted insignia. If a plate of Bakelite or Plaskon isused, it will be similar to the metal plate but, of course, the insigniawill be molded into the plate rather than stamped in with a metal die. f

Still another object of the invention is to provide a molded plasticbutton having an insignia insignia is placed, while the rim of the shellis plate embedded within the button and to mold the button with acentral straight bore to receive a fiuted shank fastener, thus doingaway with the necessity of any vise, anchor, or anvil, which greatlysimplifies the molding operation of the button. f

With these and other objects in view, which will more fully appear asthe specification proceeds, the invention consists in certain new andnovel features and combination of parts, as willy be hereinafter morefully described and pointed out in the claims.

Referring now to the drawing showing a preferred embodiment. i

Fig. 1 is an enlarged top plan view of the completed button;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken on the line 2-2 ofFig. 1'; y,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged top plan view of the metal insignia plate asdie-cast or stamped from sheet metal;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken on the line 4--4 ofFig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the plastic button headafter the molding operation:

Fig. 6 is a similar sectional view of the metal button back or shellbefore assembly; and

Fig. 'I shows diagrammatically the insignia plate and plastic in apositive type mold cavity.

Referring now more speciilcally to the several views, and for the momentto Fig. 4, there is shown a plate I of stamped sheet metal with theraised insignia or letters 2, and for the sake of illustration, I haveshown the letters P B Co.

'I'his so-called name plate I is of dome shape corresponding to thefinished face of-'the button and is preferably provided with ahorizontallyAIV extending peripheral rim l, which gives support for thismarginal area when molded in the Bake,- lite button. Of course, theupper surface of this rim is vgenerally left in an uncoated condition,as shown in Fig. 2, but, if desired, the plastic may entirely cover therim. Furthermore, the peripheral rim might be dispensed with and thename plate dome-shaped throughout its entire cross section. However, inmost instances, it will be desirable to provide the peripheral rim 3shown. l

Also, the plate is prick-punched, as at l, to permit the Bakelite, aswill be hereinafter mentioned, to readily flow through these openings toilll up the spaces above the plate and adjacent letters and, at the sametime, form an anchor with the body of the Bakelite.

*.t is also especially desirable to have further' prick-punches, as at5, that is, wherever there is an island or a surrounded portion in theletter or letters. By providing these prick-punches in the islands, theconilned Bakelite is well anchored with the body and thus prevented fromever becoming loosened or lost from its pol.

sition.

It will be understood that the .words or letters stamped in the platewill be according to the requirements of the purchaser and the lettersshown are merely illustrative. Regardless of what letters are used, itis desirable and necessary that the perforations 4 and l be formed in.the various parts of the plate for the abovementioned reasons.

It will also be understood that these plates may be made of dii'l'erentkinds of metal and may be plated or enameled, if desired, foromamentation.

Also, as heretofore mentioned, if desired.

rather than having a stamped metal pl-ate, a`

lettera-'after which they may be polished by ball-rolling or may even begiven a tumbled coat of clear. lacquer in order to make the buttonsbright and attractive in appearance.

InV Fig. 'l I haveshown how these plates with their insignia stampedthereon will be placed Ain a positive type die cavity i. the bottom ofthe cavity/,conforming to the arcuate cross section ofthe plate I.

clearly the outline' of the A disk of the preferably high ilow Bakelitewill then be dropped on the inner surface of the circulate plate I bywhat is known as the tray method. Where there are two or three hundredmold cavities to be filled, a tray (not shown) may be used, in which areplaced the plurality of disks. The tray is then placed over the mold andthe disks dropped into the respective mold cavities on top of thepreviously-deposited plates.

In Fig. 7, there is fragmentarily shown a part of a mold wherein 1 isthe top die, lis the cyl- Inder wall, and 9 is the bottom die andelector pin. In the top die, there may be seen the core pin I 0. whichforms the bore II in the plastic I2, which plastic, of course, forms thegreater part of the button head. It will be understood that I have notshown the plastic I2 in itsdisk form but rather the plastic which hasbeen molded from the disk. It will also be understood that when the corepin is forced down on the disk, it will break up the same into pieces,and as the plastic is molded, it will help force the plastic through theprick-punched openings 4 and I and thus fill the spaces between theletters of the insignia as well as the islands in the letters.

'I'he plate will now be well embedded in the plastic button head, whilethe outer surface of the letters will be flush with the body, as may beseen in Figs. 1, 2, and 5. The button head now consists of the plasticbody I2, the integral hub I3, theA bore or chamber I I (formed by theheretofore-mentioned core pin I0) and the embedded plate I.

Just below the top surface of theA button may be seen (Fig. 2) the plateIr with lts raised letters 2, the outer surfaces of which are flush withthe button vhead or possibly a thousandth or two thousandths of an inchbelow the surface.

It will be noticed that the plate I may center itself when droppedwithin its die cavity, and after so centered, will conveniently hold adisk of Bakelite or other plastic material, which, as it melts, will bepushed hard against the inside of4 the plate. Likewise, the' letters ofthe plate will be forced down hard against the bottom wall of the diecavity, the plastic being then forced through the openings in the plateand filling the spaces between the letters and in the islands of theletters but leaving the tops of the letters showing through the surfaceof the finished molded button.

It will further be understood that bright metal letters with a blackbackground show up much more distinctly than would the same letters whenmerely formed by molding them in the Bakelite. because there is a highcontrast between the metal letters and the black background. Of course,sunken molded letters may be filled with contrasting colored enamel, butthis is not nearly as permanent or economical as using a stamped metalplate which is firmly embedded within the After these button heads aremolded with the plates embedded therein, they are each preferably placedwithin a shell, such as shown in Fig. 6. This shell is similar to themetal button shells used in making metal buttons and consists of whatmight be termed a body I5; the integral hub I6, which may be perforateon its bottom, as at I1; and the upwardly extending flange I8.

After the premolded button head is placed within the shell, the flangeIB is curled, as at I9, about the peripheral edge of the plastic buttonhead.

When this ange I8 is curled, it will be seen that it contacts with theperipheral rim 3 of the plate, thus providing an even rigid surface tobe clamped between the bottom of the shell and the edge of the rolled orcurled flange.

The metal curled edge, as shown, also forms a frame for the letters andthus presents a, finished and pleasing appearance to the button. y

It may be necessary to subject the plastic buttons to a tumblingoperation to remove the n, but this is all that will be necessary, thusdoing away with the usual expensive operation of grinding off the finsin a special machine and then tumbling and polishing to smooth the edgeand round it over.

It will be noticed that this back shell tightly flts about the Bakelitehub and, in fact, when assembling, the plastic portion of the buttonwill be forced into the shell so that the metal surrounding the plasticbutton head will be under tension.

Then, if, when using the tack fasteners, about to be mentioned, theplastic hub should fracture, stili the parts will be tightly held inplace, and a goed fastening obtained.

It will be noticed that the button head is not provided with a vise oranchor to engage the tack fastener. This not only saves the cost of avise or anchor but it also reduces cost in the molding operation, as iteliminates the cost of dropping and centering a vise or anchor in eachof the die cavities.

It will also be seen that by eliminating a die or anchor, it greatlysimplifies the molding operation, as provision would have to be made tocenter the vise on top of the Bakelite and means would have to beprovided for holding the vise in a central position during the moldingoperation.

As shown in the several figures, I utilize a spirally-uted tackfastener, as seen in Fig. 2.

which consists of the tack having the head 20.. and the shank 2| whichis provided with the flutes 22. This tack may be coated, if desired, andis of slightly greater diameter than the diameter of the bore I4. Thisform of fastening is shown in the application filed by me, William A.Zwiebel, and Harold N. Verzier on January 3, 1939, bearing Serial Number249,138, for Tack buttons.

In Fig. 2, I have shown the fastener as having From the foregoing, itwill be seen that I have provided a relatively strong molded plasticbutton, which is reinforced throughout its head and body portion by aplate, with an extending rim, and a metal shell to thus prevent anycracking of the button during the attaching operation.

Also, it is not necessary to provide any small in turn, can be placed inthe multiple die cav' ities to be embedded in their respective buttons.

It will be understood that although I prefer to use a' metal plate withthe insignia thereon, a plate of different colored plastic with insignia#thereon may be molded in the same manner within the button to give anembedded effect to the insignia.

The peripheral edge of the button also being round forms a pleasingframe for the insignia and does away with the grinding off of the roughedge, which would be necessary if this frame were not provided.

The insignia, of course, is of a lasting nature, and when the plate ishighly polished the silvery appearance of the letters (or contrastedcolor) will show up well in the black background.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. A reinforced plastic button including a body shell open at its top, aplastic insert filling said body shell and the top surface of saidplastic insert forming the face of the button, a plate with raisedinsignia thereon embedded within the plastic insert and the insigniavisible on the face of the button, the peripheral edge portion of saidplate being gripped by the body shell and acting as a tie between thebody shell and the A', plastic insert to hold the said plastic inserttightly within its shell, the bottom of the body shell being perforate,and the plastic insert provided With a registering chamber to receive afastening member.

2. A tack button including a metal body shell having a hub, a moldedplastic body, a perforated plate having raised insignia ,thereon and thesaid plate being embedded slightly below the top surface of Ythe plasticbody with the top surface of the insignia lying substantially flush withthe top surface of the plastic body, the said plate being slightlygreater in circumference than the top surface of the plastic body tothereby provide a horizontally extending peripheral rim, and the upperedge of the body shell being curled on and contacting with saidperipheral rim to thereby hold the plastic body tightly within the bodyshell.

. 3. A tack button including a metal body shell having a hub, a moldedplastic insert tightly fitted within the shell, a perforated platehaving raised insignia thereon and the said plate being embeddedslightly below the top surface of the plastic insert so that the topsurface of the insignia lies substantially ush with the top surface ofthe plastic insert, the said plate being slightly greater incircumference than the face of the plastic insert to thereby provide ahorizontally extending marginal rim, the upper edge of the body shellcrimped on said peripheral rim embedded slightly below the top surfaceof the 10 plastic insert so that the top surface of the insignia liessubstantially flush with the top sux'- face of the said plastic insert.the upper edge of the body shell crimped about the peripheral edgeportion of said plastic insert and said plate to thereby tightly holdthe plastic insert within its body shell and form a circumferentialdelining metal edge for said plastic insert. and the lower portion ofsaid plastic insert provided with a chamber to receive a fasteningmember.

FORREST G. PURINTON.

